Coulee Region tabs Fleming assistant coach

New Chill assistant Jake Fleming played four seasons with the Golden Gophers from 2001-05. PHOTO/MINNESOTA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Coulee Region Chill has announced that Jake Fleming has been hired as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 season.

He replaces Todd Sanden, who was named head coach of the North Iowa Bulls of the Tier III Junior A North American 3 Hockey League (3HL) earlier this month.

Fleming played four seasons at the University of Minnesota from 2001-05. He was on the Golden Gophers’ NCAA Division I national championship teams in 2002 and 2003 and team captain as a senior in 2003-04. Fleming also won a Junior A national title while playing for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League.

“We’re very excited,” said Chill general manager Rick Wesp. “This is the first kid we wanted and the first we interviewed.”

Fleming, 28, has coached in the Osseo-Maple Grove-Elk River (Minn.) Bantam programs the past six seasons.